Truth
by idontwannapopuponsearchengines
Summary: The Inuyasha crew explains that Sessh/Rin is not a canon pairing, no matter how much some people insist it is and that the canon pairing is Sessh/Kagura. Response fic to Ravyn Skye's Rin asks Sesshomarusama.
1. Kimonos

A/N: This is a response fic to Ravyn Skye's "Rin Asks Sesshomarusama". Before anyone gets the wrong idea, this is a debate, not an argument. We do not have beef with each other and we are just discussing this in a civilized manner. We do not hate each other, we just disagree.

Also, this debate is about whether Sessh/Rin is CANON OR NOT, not whether it's right or wrong, since that's a matter of opinion. Did you read that? I've already said that it's not about right or wrong, it's to clarify to those who don't understand that it isn't canon-no one ever said anything about whether it's okay or not to ship/write it.

Also, the quote from Encyclopedia Dramatica-it's just a joke. Do you not see that I am on DA and this website as well? It's a satire. Get over it. It's not that big of a deal.

Oh-and let ME start out by saying that I'm not a Westerner, I'm East Asian. I'm not an American who thinks they know everything about Asia because they went there for OMG 2 WHOLE YEARS like the people I'm rebutting, I'm an actual Asian person who was born in Asia who lived in Asia for nearly a decade whose entire family is Asian.

* * *

One day the cast of Inuyasha stumbled apon a large, dark portal. Nobody had a chance to resist as it immediately sucked them all up.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

After two straight hours of free-falling, they all landed on their asses. After rubbing their sore rear ends the crew got up and looked around to see that they were in a strange, dark room and there was a small Asian girl in front of them.

"Welcome." said the girl. "My name is Soojin Yeh-Soojin is my first name-and I have broken the fourth wall. All of your super powers have been rendered useless; and you will all discuss a certain topic with me."

"What topic?" asked Kagome.

As if to answer her, the movie-theatre sized screen in front of them lit up to reveal something called fanfiction dot net.

Inuyasha blinked. "What the hell is that?"

"To quote ED, it is the large, pus-filled boil on the tender ass-cheek of the internets. This site is a battle-ground between Animu fantards, yaoi Nazis, furfags, emo fucks, and 16 year old girls. Gifted with an exceptionally retarded fanbase, manages to have the world record for most entries with spelling errors and 1337speak. Like its counterpart devianTART, actually slows and in some cases retards the creative process, meaning many competent writers will often be stuck doing slashfic while soaking up all the mindless praise and slowly forgetting hough two yous homonyms." Soojin explained what she thought was an accurate description of before clicking on one story called "Rin Asks Sesshomarusama".

Everybody blinked dumbfoundedly.

"Read it. This is what we are here to discuss." said Soojin. She skipped the large intro and went straight to the story.

"What is this?" said Sesshomaru after reading. "This Sesshomaru does not see Rin as a romantic interest! If anything, she is like a daughter to me."

"Yeah?" said Soojin. "Then why do you have Rin dressed in-as some see it-a kimono intended only for the youngest wife of a lord?"

"According to who?"

Soojin shrugged. "This person. She's looking at this Squidoo article."

"First of all, there's nothing in there about the kimono being only for the youngest wife of a lord and no one else. It just says that it's an expensive kimono for rich people." said Kagome. "Second of all, that's a personal blog of a fan, not official information. That's like reading someone's personal blog and thinking everything they're saying is accurate. Third of all, that writer-EelKat-herself does not support Sessh/Rin. A direct quote from her article on the last chapter of Inuyasha where she talks about Rin's new kimono looking like Kagura's is this:

"...Kagura being the woman Sesshomaru loved and would have taken as his mate had she not died..."-EelKat."

"Her kimono is an expensive one rich people wear, not one that is intended only for a lord's wife." said Sesshomaru. "Seeing as how I am some sort of lord, why _wouldn't _I give her a kimono I can afford?"

Inuyasha scoffed and took the liberty to join the conversation. "Our creator did not put that much attention into minor details like clothing when she made us! My stupid brother over there wears a _furisode_-a kimono worn _only_ by _unmarried women_! On top of that, he wears armor worn only by female samurai, look at how the bottom of his armor is shaped!"

Soojin quickly typed some things into the computer before pulling up the "Rin asks Sesshomarusama" fic again. "According to Squidoo, which is the same website the author used to reference Rin's kimono, everything you said is correct."

Sesshomaru glared at his brother. "Unfortunately, my brother is right...but everyone can plainly see that this Sesshomaru is _not_ female!"

Inuyasha scoffed again. "Keh. According to her reasoning, if Rin's kimono means that she MUST be your intended wife, then Sesshomaru MUST be an unmarried woman."

"However, he is not, which means that our creator did not put much thought into the historical accuracy of our clothing and what it meant." Miroku said, rubbing his chin. "Most likely, she just drew whatever she felt looks good-and anything that looks like it may mean something is purely _coincidence, _and has nothing to do with the character."

"Besides," Rin piped up. "Rin hasn't worn that kimono in years!"

Soojin nodded, looking at the last chapter of a manga. "You're right. You're now wearing a kimono that has a design similar to Kagura's...but Sesshomaru, why are you bringing her a kimono? Isn't that something only a suitor or mother would do?"

"If you haven't noticed, Rin's mother is DEAD. And Kaede, being a poor peasant miko, cannot afford clothing worthy of my daughter. The only clothes that Kaede can provide are miko robes, like the ones she gave Kagome to wear even before she was training as one." said Sesshomaru in a flat tone. Everyone nodded in agreement as this made sense. "Who provided the girl's kimono if the girl had no mother? The father. Does that mean he's courting her? No."

"And while it's true that kimonos can sometimes have romantic connotations, the keyword is _sometimes_." said Kohaku. "The same way flowers are traditionally courtship gifts-well everywhere-esepcially a bouquet. And yet, Sango, what did I give you in episode where we visited the garden?"

"A flower bouquet." Sango answered her brother. "Flower bouquets are also usually seen as courting gifts. And yet, does that mean you and I are a couple? Does that mean that you were courting me by giving me those? Absolutely not. It was just a sign of affection from a brother to his sister, just like the kimono is just a father providing for his daughter/giving her little things during a visit, like family members tend to do when they live away from each other."

"Speaking of the kimono you wear now, it says here that butterflies were only worn by royalty." said Soojin.

"Kukuku!" Naraku laughed, causing people to glare at him. "Is that so? Kagura's kimono has the same butterflies, and she was OBVIOUSLY not royalty! Kukuku!"

"I grew up in foster care in different living arrangements, and depending on the circumstances, kids that are allowed to see and want to see their parents-and of course, the kid has to give their permission too-have visits. The parents come to see the kids, sometimes take them out places, and they usually bring gifts. This is what gives a lot of kids in foster care something to look forward to." Soojin continued.

"When I saw the last chapter, it immediately reminded me of that, so I was shocked when people started using even that as so-called 'evidence'. Some people say that only a suitor or mother would give a kimono, and yet, I distinctly remember seeing Japanese girls get kimonos from their blood fathers. Even while the mother was there with him. I mean, seriously, Kagura and Kanna received their kimonos from Naraku-Rumiko said in the Inuyasha Character Profiles book that the two of them received all of their things from Naraku-does that mean he's courting them? "

"On the topic of Kagura's kimono, it says here that she ties her obi in the front, thus making her a prostitute." said Soojin.

"Oh,_ hell _no!" snapped Kagura. "Kagura dancers wore their obis tied at the front too! My character design is made to make me look like a Kagura dancer-hence my fucking NAME and that all my attacks are called DANCE of something-so it's only obvious my obi would be tied the same way! The rest of my outfit is something typical of a Kagura dancer, so why not my obi?"

Everyone nodded at this. It was obvious that Kagura's character design was inspired by...well, Kagura dancers.

"And also..."

Everyone groaned. "How much more do we have to take?"

"A lot." Soojin answered. "To avoid making this into a big fat pile of TL;DR, I'm gonna address each topic with a seperate chapter. This chapter only addressed the kimonos. There's much more to come."


	2. Bowing and whatnot

"Now let's address historical accuracy and cultural accuracy." said Soojin. "According to this, Rin walks besides Sesshomaru, never bows to him, and doesn't call him father-meaning he is not a father figure."

Sango rubbed her forehead. "I'm sick of hearing about 'historical accuracy' this and that. Our creator did _not _make Inuyasha to be historically accurate-the monk here is proof of that!"

"S-Sango is right." Miroku chuckled nervously. "Canonically, I am a lecher who constantly gropes women and asks them to bear his children. At the end of the manga, I am married with three kids. However even westerners know that Buddhist monks are prohibited from sexual encounters of _any_ kind with _anyone_-and that if a monk had acted the way I do in the series, he would've most likely been executed."

"Also, in the end of the manga, Kagome is said to be married to Inuyasha...and yet she is wearing miko robes and training as one." said Soojin, holding up her copy of the last chapter. "However, miko were not allowed to do anything of the sort, just like monks. To be historically accurate, Kagome would not be able to marry-or even have a relationship with-Inuyasha and be a miko at the same time. She would have to choose one or the other."

"If Inuyasha was culturally accurate, Kagome's mother would've beaten her half to death for skipping so much school. Asian countries place education first and foremost, it's THE most important thing over there. And physical discipline is normal, but you don't see any of the kids getting beaten, do you? Kagome doesn't study hard like real Asian kids do."

"If you wanted to be historically accurate, there's no way Sango would've gone around smacking Miroku, or Kagome sitting Inuyasha. Asia is male-dominated and believes in traditional gender roles, and back in the day, women were PROPERTY. There's no way a woman would'be been able to disrespect a man like that if you wanted to be historically accurate."

"If the series was historically accurate, we wouldn't be referring to the noble characters by their given names because that was unacceptably familiar back then."

Sango scoffed at Miroku. "Obviously, our creator did not have cultural or historical accuracy in mind when creating us. Some things, like general widespread norms, are there-but minor details like bowing? Please."

"On top of that, has anyone noticed how Miroku treats me, his obvious father figure acknowledged as his foster father?" said Mushin, popping up out of nowhere. "He never bows to me either! He isn't always respectful, and is constantly kicking me in the head!"

"But you are obviously my foster father. No one can disagree with that." shrugged Miroku. "Rumiko did not care about things like that when writing us, so why would she care about that when writing Sesshomaru and Rin?"

Naraku nodded also. "Kanna and Kagura never bow to me either..."

"And don't forget about me!" Shippo piped up. "I'm openly and blatantly disrespectful of all the adults around me, but it's obvious they see me as a child!"

"I walk in front of him too." said Kagura. "And not only do I not address him with any sort of title, I curse him out all the time. I even got away with kidnapping Rin-and he didn't even notice it was me! He blamed it all on Naraku and Kohaku."

Soojin held up her copies of Takahashi's other maga. "In fact, none of Takahashi's manga have a child acting like that to a parent figure-biological or not-at all. You're talking about the woman who has her main characters constantly inflict physical pain and disrespect on their parents. So it's obvious that minor details like bowing and where you walk does not matter to Takahashi, who doesn't even care about well known facts like monks being prohibited from sexual encounters."

"She would not make an exception just for Sesshomaru and Rin. Why would she all of a sudden start being all nit-picky about details and whatnot when it comes to them-who are not even the main characters of the manga-when she didn't do that for ANYBODY else? That makes no sense." said Miroku.

"Also, just because one does not outright call someone their father or mother does not mean they are not seen as a father or mother figure." said Soojin. "The person I consider the closest thing to my father is a counselor...and I told him too. But you know what I call him? Mr. Gaynor. And I come from a country that's even more obsessed with titles and honorifics than Japan. It's rare in Korea to refer to someone by their given name-if they're a bit older, it's unni, noona, oppa or hyoungah. Middle aged person is ajumah, or ajussi. You have to call elderly people grandma or grandpa even if they're not your grandparents. It's so bad that adults have to refer to each other as "X's mom" or "X's dad". But you don't ever see me calling my foster fathers "father"."

"But Rin's parents are dead." said Rin. "Wouldn't it be disrespectful to them to consider anyone else a parent figure?"

"Only if your parents are possessive, overbearing, and jealous." Soojin replied. "I grew up in foster care, so I've seen way too many examples of such. But my mother's dead too, yet I've called my last foster mother "the only mother I knew". Which is true, because I didn't know my mom. My mother would be happy that while she couldn't be here for me, someone has taken care of me and done some of the things she was unable to for her child. She wouldn't be jealous because she knows that considering someone a mother or father figure doesn't mean that you have completely let go of your real parents. I think your dad would be happy for you that Sesshomaru is protecting you while he can't, Rin."

Rin nodded and smiled brightly.

"Now, onto the next topic..."


	3. Tale of Genji and Japanese Society

"It says here, that such a relationship happened in The Tale of Genji and Memoirs of a Geisha." said Soojin. Everyone stared at her.

"So?"

"Well, apparently some people think that because it happened in those stories, it MUST be what's happening in this one."

Kikyo, who recently just popped up because I forgot she was there, hung her head. "Why are they comparing adult novels-one written hundreds of years ago, the other written decades ago-to a _shonen action manga? _They don't even have the same author! What do those have in common with Inuyasha besides that they're Japanese?"

Soojin shrugged. "Coincidence, maybe? That makes no sense. If anything's a parallel, it's the fact that The Mermaid Saga-another manga by Rumiko Takahashi-has a character named Rin. And guess what? This character Rin exists for no other reason than to be devoted to her ill father.

The thing is, Inuyasha and The Mermaid Saga have _the exact same author_. The Mermaid Saga is the series Rumiko Takahashi worked on on-and-off _at the same time_ she was writing Inuyasha. Reason?

Everyone knows Takahashi usually does a lot of comedy, and she tried something that was way different from her earlier stuff with Inuyasha by making it much more serious. That was what she was doing-experimenting with a style different from her own-when she wrote Inuyasha. But of course, if it was too serious, that's too much of a risk for the woman who's basically the Queen of slapstick humor.

So, while writing Inuyasha-which does have a lot of her trademark humor in it-she did the complete experiment that she wanted to do with Inuyasha by writing The Mermaid Saga, a gruesome, dark horror-style manga without a trace of comedy. Now how ironic is it that she also chose to put a character named Rin in there-the exact same name, who seems to serve the same purpose as the one from Inuyasha-for a manga that serves the same purpose as Inuyasha?

Ironically, Ranma 1/2-the Rumiko Takahashi series that shares many VAs with Inuyasha, cast David Kaye as Soun Tendo. Ranma is the series Takahashi wrote before Inuyasha, and many of the VAs were casted in Inuyasha to play _similar roles._

Examples: Inuyasha and Ranma , two extremely similar characters, sharing the same voice actor in both Japanese and English. Sango and Ukyo-both side heroines with similar jealous-in-love personalities who can both fight and be sweet-sharing the same English VA.

Soun and Sesshomaru sharing the same English VA-David Kaye. Both have three people depending on them: Nabiki, Kasumi and Akane for Soun-Jaken, Kohaku and Rin for Sesshomaru. Soun's canonical love interest is dead throughout the whole series. Kagura dies before the two of them get to pursue their relationship. It's highly likely that by casting the same VA, they're implying that Sesshomaru is a lot like Soun-which makes it very likely that they're implying that Jaken, Rin and Kohaku are like children to Sesshomaru and Kagura, though dead, is Sesshomaru's canon love interest.

And yet, we usually don't bring that up when debating Sessh/Rin because we know that the two are different characters from different works of fiction, and even if they're written by the same author, during the same time, and for the same purpose. Even if we know that Takahashi constantly recycles her ideas to the point that she used the same theme for the main couples of FOUR of her manga, back-to-back.

So how _ridiculous_ is it to bring up novels that are by completely different people born centuries and decades apart, that are not even the same genre-hell, aren't even the same medium-with plots, purposes and characters that have nothing in common with each other-just because they originated in the same country? That's pretty damn nonsensical. Especially when Rumiko never, ever writes couples like that, but very often does write parents and children (not all of them are biologically related or even call each other "father" or "son/daughter") that are devoted to each other-even if they're not related by blood."

"I've read that book." said Kagome. "Murasaki and Genji have nothing in common with Sesshomaru and Rin. I mean, he kidnaps her and takes her because she reminded him of Fujitsubo. He does send her to train and marries her, but she was not his main wife. Never was. He continues to take other wives and the book ends when their relationship is so damaged, Murasaki leaves him to become a nun. Then she dies, and then Genji dies. Hell, the Inu-Kik-Kag triangle has more in common with that with the whole "Initially-liking-someone-because-they-look-like-someone-else" thing."

Kikyo sighed and pulled up a quote.

"It's been brought to my attention that because Takahashi is Japanese she "would have no problem writing a lolicon character" because she is "Japanese and sees things in a Japanese way." However, famed animator, Hayao Miyazaki, doesn't seem to follow such a trend. He said in a 1988 interview with "Animage" that while he prefers to have female protagonists, "It's difficult. They immediately become the subjects of lolicon. In a sense, if we want to depict someone who is affirmative to us, we have no choice but to make them as lovely as possible. But now, there are too many people who shamelessly depict (such heroines) as if they just want (such girls) as pets, and things are escalating more and more." Miyazaki even expressed concern as to what this might mean for human rights for women.

Are eyebrows raised since he goes against the grain of Japanese culture? I personally don't think Hayao Miyazaki is an anomaly, so I believe Takahashi could have intended Rin to see her protector in a solely filial light.

Let me just say this: Takahashi IS Japanese, she went out of her way to make Rin a small child, she out of her way to make Sess realize that to make oneself stronger is not worth the sacrifice of Rin's life when he couldn't revive her in the arc Hell episode. He wasn't thinking of Rin as a mate but as his child that he was responsible for. Any parent would have felt guilty for putting their own child in harm's way. Takahashi continued to go out of her way to make Kohaku constantly protecting Rin's life when they were inside hell and inside Naraku, thus making him a worthy mate for her. When they were inside Naraku and Sess couldn't scent her, he was acting like any parent worried in search for their kid. Takahashi was not indicating anything other than making Rin be the child that can make Sess understand through unconditional love that all humans are not bad. By him bringing her a kimono, it was a clear understanding that he still is responsible for her and continued in providing care, just like any parent does when their kids are growing. This is Takahashi's answer to all of those people who want something that is not there. He is her care taker, her protector, her father figure NOT some emotionally, unstable guy that will warp the affections of a small child because he is incapable of finding someone for himself. It is so insulting to say the least and extremely offensive to what Takahashi intended.

A typical defense you'll find for Sess/Rin romance is that the setting is Sengoku Jidai when older men married younger girls. However, it's not simply an issue of "in historical times". More importantly, reading up on historical attitudes shows that such unions are - as they are in the modern day - highly controversial. There are rules attached, and usually specific (non-romantic) reasons for these unions to have occurred in the first place (political alliance, wealth, titles, etc). In such cases, rules govern the behaviour of the oldern man towards his new, young bride - in many cultures, the marriage may have taken place when the girl was 12 or 14 or whatever age, but consumation of the marriage was delayed for a few years until the girl was classified (by the definitions of the day) as a "woman". In examples where consumation happened quickly, despite the bride's young age, controversy would inevitably follow.

I know people often say "well in the Tale of Genji...". Yes, Genji does indeed marry a girl. But then Genji is a highly controversial figure in the entire story. He breaks rules and (for a while) gets away with it - isn't part of the story about how he gets his comuppance in the form having got a woman pregnant that he should not have been dallying with, resulting in another raising a son that was not his, that his own young bride commits the same act with another, resulting in *him* raising the child of another man as his own son?

The idea that "it happened in historical times" doesn't sit well with me because it implies that it was universally accepted without restriction in historical times and it's universally unaccepted without restriction in modern times. This implication just isn't true. It happened then and it still happens now - but it's never been fully accepted nor fully denied." -Silent Scribe

"True." said Soojin. "Just because Rumiko is Japanese, where lolicon is more common than the USA, does not automatically mean that she sees it the same way. In fact, though it is a popular thing, there's just as many people who oppose it as well-kind of like how gay couples, same-sex marriage, premarital sex, abortion, divorce, and interracial marriage (which are all more common in the US)are seen over here. It is definitely not a normal thing that is accepted by everyone, there is much controversy over it, and this person obviously jumped to conclusions after talking to only one party-the side that supports it. So, the real question would be, does _Rumiko Takahashi_ support such relationships?"

Miroku frowned. "I think that has already been proven in the way she wrote me and Koharu." he said. "When everyone found out I had proposed to an eleven year old girl to bear my child when she got older, they were shocked, disgusted and revolted. The situation was used to solidify my character as a _pervert _and a _lecher_. They didn't care if she was now fourteen and I was seventeen-they were still disgusted and thought I was taking advantage of her naivete."

"Don't remind me!" said Sango, covering her ears.

"He's right, though." said Kagome. "I mean, I'm from the modern era and I was shocked, even though I knew girls married younger back then-but Rumiko made it so that EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER was revolted by what Miroku did. And keep in mind, the age gap between Miroku and Koharu isn't as large as the one between Sesshomaru and Rin-on top of that, Miroku does not have a paternal relationship with Koharu. In Maison Ikkoku, there's a plot about Kyoko marrying her high school teacher (and her parent's are very unhappy about it)but him dying not long after marriage and her being paired with a character closer to her age. When Yusaku Godai becomes the target of a Precocious Crush by his own student, Ibuki Yagami, he is disgusted by and quite disapproving of the idea"

Akane from Ranma 1/2 dropped in. "Hi, remember me? I'm not from this manga, but I'm from a Rumiko Takahashi manga. Does anyone remember how, earlier on, I had a crush on Dr. Tofu, who was around 4-5 years older than me?" She said. "Well, I was constantly made fun of and ridiculed for it. It turns out later than Dr. Tofu was head-over-heels for my older sister Kasumi, who was the same age as him. After being mocked over and over, I got over my initial crush very easily, and came to see Dr. Tofu and Kasumi as a cute couple. My point is that even before then, Rumiko had been mocking those kind of relationships. She'd always been portraying them as utterly ridiculous and something only a lecherous, perverted, and twisted adult would pursue."

Sango sighed. "Does that sound like something that would've have been written by someone who supports lolicon? NO! Rumiko didn't even support THAT one, so what makes anyone think she'd support a pairing such as Sesshomaru and Rin? Read the manga, people! Read her work! It's blatant that this author does NOT support such relationships!"

"What about the notion that Rin is being trained as a wife? Didn't child brides get sent to live with older women to marry lords later on when that happened? It happened all the time historically." asked Shippo.

"So that makes it okay? Historically, black people were kept as slaves and people thought the Earth was flat. Does that mean it's okay to keep black people as slaves? That means the Earth is flat?

Plus, Inuyasha isn't even a historically accurate series. Sesshomaru wears furisode (women's kimono), monks get married, have kids and so do miko-plenty of things have happened that would have been impossible culturally and historically. Rumiko was never trying to be historically/culturally accurate.

Also, even if Inuyasha WAS a historically accurate series, it wouldn't have happened like that. When girls went to train, they didn't go to live with miko (miko are religious women, virgins) in peasant villages, acting like midwives. They went to live with nobility to learn about noble life. Sesshomaru couldn't easily sent her to live with his mom, but he didn't. And then they specifically said that he wanted her to learn to LIVE WITH HUMANS.

If she was being trained as his wife, why would she ever need to learn to live with humans? Sesshomaru doesn't live with humans. If she was gonna be his wife, she would never need that. Most likely, this is for her safety, mental/physical health and well being and things won't change. After she died in the Hell Arc, he immediately thought "I should've left her in a human village for her safety", and at the end...she is in a human village. So yeah, this is likely for her safety and well being and things won't change.

It was not possible to send a girl to "train" at a poor peasant village-under a miko that was a sworn virgin for life. If it was safety he was worried about, Sesshomaru could've easily sent Rin to human aristocrats who were legally allowed to and were able to train her-after all, Kaede was a total stranger to him for the whole series as well, so another stranger should not have been a big deal. And yet he sent her to Kaede...a miko...in a run-down, broke village with no knowledge of nobility whatsoever...she's helping her with Kaede's miko duties and doing midwife things...and Inuyasha's own words were that she was there because she needed to learn how to live with other humans.

Why in the world would she need to learn how to live with other humans if she was ever meant to return to Sesshomaru's side? It's more likely he's planning on keeping her there for good, because like he said so himself in the Hell Arc, staying with him is too dangerous for Rin.

So it's very obvious that Rin is not being "trained as a wife" for Sesshomaru in any way-nothing close to it."

"What about Inuyasha saying "so she can choose when the time comes?" asked Miroku.

"in the manga, Inuyasha did not say "so she can choose when the time comes", that's not a canon phrase, the actual phrase is "...or whatever she chooses". There was no mention of "when the time comes". Meaning she was given a choice in the matter and she is not being forced against her will to stay in the human village."

"And to me, for whatever reason, that is brainwashing."

Soojin nodded. "Well you'll be floored at this next argument..."


	4. Behavior

"It means to study your behavior." said Soojin. "It says that you diving into hell for Rin, blah blah and all the other things you did means you love her."

"I do love her. Not romantically though." said Sesshomaru. "They do know the difference...right?"

"Apparently not. They think romantic love can happen between you and Rin without it being pedophilia or child grooming-look that up if you don't know about that crime. They think as long as you don't touch her while she is a child, it makes it very different." said Soojin. "The only thing that exists in a romantic relationship that doesn't exist in a platonic one is the sexual attraction. If he loves her in a romantic way, it means he is physically attracted to her, making her a pedophile.

Now before you throw a fit, I DID NOT SAY THAT ROMANTIC LOVE WAS ONLY ABOUT SEX. I just said that it DOES play a part. Why do you think that in order to consummate a marriage, you have to have sex? Because it IS a sexual form of love. Romantic love is when sex and love come together; love by itself is platonic love.

If you disagree, tell me, what do YOU think is the difference between romantic love and platonic love? What's the only thing present in romantic love that doesn't happen in platonic relationships? I dare you to think about that."

"Inuyasha and Kagome have physical aspects such as the nudity tension and jealousy over Kikyo and Koga. Inuyasha and Kikyo, even without the engagement, have physical aspects such as kissing, the way they hold each other, and jealousy over Kagome. Miroku and Sango have obvious physical aspects such as the groping/blushing/kissing and yes, once again, jealousy. Sesshomaru and Kagura, while they don't show jealousy because neither of them have competition, do have physical connotations such as the river scene, Rin's confirmation by saying "IN love", and then Sesshomaru going on to show more devotion to her than he's ever done for any casual ally."

"Rin and Sesshomaru, while they are shown to love each other, have zero romantic connotations whatsoever. In fact, Rin herself is HAPPY about Kagura possibly having feelings for Sesshomaru, the same way Kagome was HAPPY about Sango having feelings for Miroku-things Rumiko Takahashi, the Queen of love triangles and jealousy, would NEVER put in there if she had meant for someone to be a character's love interest-specifically saying that this is not a romantic thing, but platonic."

"And it says that since you left me with Kaede and you make me get my own food, you're not a father figure." said Rin. "They say I am independent of him."

"The fact he makes her get her own food is MORE evidence that he's being paternal. Hello? He's preparing her to leave the nest. Parents are SUPPOSED TO DO THAT. Your kids are gonna grow up and leave you, and that's why parenting exists in the first place-FOR THE ADULTS TO PREPARE THEM FOR ADULTHOOD AND LATER LIFE. And obviously that includes getting your food. Sessh doesn't want her fully grown and not able to fend for herself or even get her own food! And slowly, he's gonna stop doing other certain things for her and he's gonna teach them to do it on her own like a father should.

Seriously, who has to remind their spouse to feed themselves, unless the person has some sort of special condition? That's not something a boyfriend normally does. That's something a parent trying to teach their kid to do certain things does. Does that, or does that not, remind you of when you become old enough to know how to use the microwave or whatnot and your mom/dad tells you to do it by yourself from now on, but still looks after you while you do it?

And how can you say that he isn't parenting her? How can you say that she isn't dependent on him? Everyone saw how Rin was BEFORE Sesshomaru stepped in. She was dirty, raggedy, had forgotten how to speak, had no social skills, and was barely just surviving. The way she was, no wonder she ended up getting killed. The girl had to be REMINDED to feed herself.

The girl had RECENTLY been orphaned, so you know she actually hadn't even been alone for long- and she was STILL doing that terribly. She couldn't even survive for a little while on her own."

"Eastern cultures don't see family units the same way. We're still very traditional, and that's not something that's controversial. Active nurturing is the role of the mother, who stays at home while the father works late. The father provides the bread and protects, but is somewhat distant.

You can see that reflected in Takahashi's works as well- the father is usually more distant. Unlike lolicon pairings, which she has written in a very negative manner, this traditional view of family units is something she has constantly been shown to support. Ranma's mother is the one who cooks and crap, Genma is the one who trains his son. Soun Tendo, father of three girls, does not actively nurture his girls-he doesn't even protect them actually, he just scares Ranma into doing it.

Soun is single since his wife (who he is very devoted to) is dead. Guess who feeds the rest of the family? His oldest daughter, Kasumi. This isn't even controversial or anything like lolicon and age differences are. In my stepmom's absence, I was expected to do all the cooking/cleaning around the house for my dad as soon as I hit twelve. And we were Americanized. Personally, I hate it, but unlike lolicon, it's really not a questionable thing in any part of Asia.

Of course, the children should be obedient to a fault. And they love each other. Sesshomaru's relationship with Rin is the Eastern image of an ideal relationship between father and daughter.

And seriously, what Takahashi couple do you know where the girl OBEYS the guy? Never. Rumiko's pretty respectful of her own gender-she had to turn Jakotsu into a guy because though originally he was meant to be female, she couldn't stand the thought of Inuyasha-the hero of the series-killing a woman.

It doesn't matter if this was the Feudal Era-as you can clearly see, NONE of the women in the series are obedient to their men like Rin is to Sesshomaru-unless the man is some sort of FATHER FIGURE. If the man in question is a love interest, the girl is NEVER obedient to him.

Only after Sesshomaru steps in does she clean up. Only after Sesshomaru tells her to feed herself does she start to do so-and never even actually by herself, he always leaves Jaken there to babysit her.

At first she was so emotionally dependent on Sesshomaru that during his absence, she'd do nothing but wait for him curled up in a ball-and she took his instructions so literally it's ridiculous. Slowly, after social interaction with Sesshomaru and Jaken (who was assigned to the role by Sesshomaru I must add) she starts talking more and more, and reaching out to other people-until the end when she can live away from him without being emotionally crushed.

The ending makes it parent/child specific because that is Rin gaining independance from Sesshomaru and leaving the nest-the reason why parental relationships exist in the first place. To love and care for your child who does not have the skills/state of mind to survive on their own-discipline them, teach them, provide for them-and slowly, as they learn from you, they become more and more independant. As they become more independent, you slowly decrease your providing for them and catering to their whims...until your goal is reached. They are now ready to survive on their own. That doesn't mean your love disappears-but the child does not need you for constant guidance anymore. They leave the nest now, or start getting ready to.

That is EXACTLY what happened with Sesshomaru and Rin. At first, she was entirely dependent on him-everyone saw what she was like before he stepped in-slowly, she began to do certain things for herself (with Sesshomaru's help) until the end, where she has left the nest.

Also, why does he appoint her a babysitter? Lovers don't appoint babysitters for their lovers. That's something a parent does for a child."

Sesshomaru nodded. "Of course, we still keep in contact like parents and children do even after the child leaves the nest."

"And-what the hell? I'm at least fifty and Kagome's fifteen so that makes me a pedophile too?" exclaimed Inuyasha. "Demons don't age like humans do! Just like a seven year old dog is ancient and very old while a 7 year old human is still a child, I am still a teenager, and so is Kagome! Also, I do not have a paternal relationship with her; I never did! While Sesshomaru is an adult and Rin is a child, and the two of them DO have a paternal relationship!"

"And if he raises her with the intent of making her his wife/mate, whether paternal or not, he is brainwashing her. Let's forget the fact that she basically just married her adoptive father-even if that wasn't the case, she does not get a choice to think otherwise when someone with that much influence and authority in her life makes her decision for her before she even understood what it really was. So no, even if she is "older", it still isn't healthy-there's still a whole bunch of problems.

If you put him with "older" Rin, that is child grooming-the practice of an adult befriending/approaching a child to lower their inhibitions and prepare them for later sexual contact, which is also a criminal offence and is seen as the same as/no better than pedophilia in the eyes of the law. While every place has a different legal definition of what counts as a "child", most places-yes, including Japan-condemn child grooming on the same level of statutory rape. It's like drugging a person to get their "consent".

There is a way around that- if you make it so that Sesshomaru develops feelings "accidentally" after she gets older. However, Rin NEVER grows up during the span of the series and nowhere does it say that Sesshomaru starts liking her a few years later, so that's a completely different fan-made character. That's not Takahashi's Rin. If you make it so the ties are severed, you have strayed from the character so far that it is no longer Rin. It's just an OC with the same name."

"What about the people who say that his relationship with Rin's is deeper than with Kagura's, so it MUST be a romantic thing?" asked Soojin.

Kagome smacked her forehead. "Once again, they are under the illusion that lust and love are the same thing, instead of separate things than can co-exist." She sighed. "What are they, hormone-ridden teenage girls? Well, I have no room to be talking since I'm at that age when hormones start raging too, but I still know better. Of course you have a deeper relationship with your DAUGHTER than a CRUSH. Does that mean that you see them in a romantic light? Of course not."

"These people think like they're still in that stage when sexuality is a new concept and you immediately start over-romanticizing it and pushing your family to the side to focus on your newfound hormones/so-called "love life". But then again seeing as how most of IY's fanbase are in their teens, maybe I shouldn't be surprised."

"But the fact is, romantic relationships are actually the LEAST stable out of them all and the EASIEST break apart. The strongest forms of love are much more common between FAMILIES AND LIFELONG FRIENDS. And while it is very possible for a couple to love each other as much a family normally does, it's much, much, much rarer. You are SUPPOSED to put your child before everything else in your life-not so with a crush. And yes, your child is supposed to come BEFORE your significant other. If a parent does not act accordingly, that means there is something seriously, seriously wrong with them."

"The person that loves me most is not Inuyasha-that is my mother. The woman that loved Inuyasha the most was not me or Kikyo-that was his mother Izayoi. The most important male figure in Sango's life is not Miroku-that is her brother Kohaku. It was even stated outright that Kohaku had such a big place in Sango's heart, that not even Miroku could make up for it. Because they are FAMILY. And yet, does that make Kohaku her love interest and not Miroku? Definitely not. It's clear which roles they play, regardless of Kohaku holding a bigger share of Sango's heart-and the fact that Rumiko had Shippo point that out shows she is very clearly aware of this fact. Therefore, that Sesshomaru does have a stronger bond with Rin is even more evidence that Kagura is a ROMANTIC LOVE INTEREST, and Rin is a DAUGHTER-A FAMILY MEMBER."

"Any parent of any sort will definitely tell you that NOTHING is the same after you become a parent. It's an expierience that changes you and your entire being, makes you grow up and become much less selfish-like what the experience of taking care of Rin did to Sesshomaru."

"That is one of the reasons some people dislike this pairing-the inability to leave the relationship as it is shows a certain belief that there's no way love could possibly be valid unless it's a romantic thing. It seems like they believe that romantic love is the strongest of them all, when that's not the case."

"Some people say Rin can't possibly see his as a father figure because he's too hot." said Soojin.

"So does that mean it's impossible for any female to not find him attractive?" asked Kagome. "Nope. They forget that although he is popular with girls, that completely stops whithin the anime fandom-people that aren't into fandom and things usually do not find him, or any anime character for that matter, attractive."

"And there's plenty of females even within fandoms that do not see him that way at all, such as myself. . Even if the fans like him like that, they forget that we aren't real, and Rin is a character in the SERIES. Do the ladies in the actual manga feel the same way, besides Kagura, and Sara doesn't count? No. Point is, the girls in the series don't see Sesshomaru the same way the fangirls do-and even in the real world, there's plenty of women that are not attracted to him in any way, shape, or form. And that includes Rin, who is not only a child, but also a character in the actual series (they tend not to be attracted to him) and has also been living with him for three years and will continue to grow even more used to him as, even though they live apart now, they still continue to keep in contact."

"Also, plenty of attractive men such as the numerous celebrities out there have children. And yes, some have adoptive children and kids that are not their official children, but they raise like their own nonetheless. Even if it was true that Sesshomaru was some sort of chick magnet, the argument that "he's too sexy to be a dad" is complete and utter ridiculousness and nonesense." said Sango.

"What about the people who say it MUST be a romantic thing because Sesshomaru's mother said he was becoming like his father in a strange way?" asked Soojin.

"Note that Rumiko Takahashi made sure to make me say in a "strange way", meaning NOT exactly the same." said Sesshomaru's mother. "Meaning? Yes, he's becoming like his father in the sense that he is caring for humans-but like I said, IN A STRANGE WAY, NOT EXACTLY THE SAME-in that instead of developing a romantic bond with a human, Sesshomaru has developed a PATERNAL bond instead."

"You'll be interested to see what they have to say about Kagura..."


	5. Kagura

"According to this, Kagura meant nothing to you because after Tenseiga failed to work, you "simply moved on"...and that time in the river, you didn't save her until Rin jumped in."

Rin frowned. "He didn't come in after me either, until after Master Jaken jumped in! Are they saying he does not care about me?"

"Don't worry about it. After all, if Sesshomaru just wanted to save you...or you and Jaken, why didn't he do so?" asked Soojin. "Kagura was the largest, heaviest and the most burdensome out of all of you. Not to mention she was wet and unconscious. You two are small and light-it would have been much easier to just ignore Kagura, and yet he saved all three of you.

On top of that, that's the exact same way he acted when you got killed by wolves, Rin. He didn't try to save you until AFTER Tenseiga started pulsing and told him to. At first, he was just gonna leave. But everybody knows it's not cause he didn't care."

All eyes shifted to Sesshomaru and Kagura, who were trying to ignore it.

"Not to mention that he also STAYED there with her until she woke up and was obviously okay. Which he did NOT have to do."

Rin giggled. "Remember what Rin said that one time? I think it's true."

"That's another thing." Jaken spoke up. "You said, 'I bet she's secretly in love with Lord Sesshomaru!' with a big grin on your face, all excited. If you were supposed to be his love interest and not Kagura, why would Rumiko make you so giddy about it, and even go as far as to have you try to convince me that you were right and say that we should trust her more because of that? You were actively trying to get them closer together! She wouldn't-regardless of how young you are, because when Rumiko's characters have romantic interest in someone, they want them to themselves! Hell, Ukyo acted like that when she was three!

Is this or is this not the same way Kagome reacted when she thought Sango had feelings for Miroku but didn't know if Miroku returned her feelings? It is!"

"Is it true?" Rin asked, turning to Sesshomaru and Kagura. They did not answer.

"Well, he came to see her before she died, made sure to let her know he came to see her and not to kill Naraku (which is something he does not do, he usually tells people that he was "just passing through" or that they were "just in the way" when he gets caught helping someone)-completely throwing away his chance to kill Naraku-and actually tried to use Tenseiga by himself WITHOUT the sword pulsing and telling him to use it. I don't think I've EVER seen him act like that. He didn't have to be there, and yet he tracked her down by scent. Tenseiga didn't ask him to save her, but he tried anyway. That was the first time he _ever_ tried to save someone by his own will. That's something he didn't even do with _you_, Rin, until _after_ this happened!

And speaking of Tenseiga, do you remember how he learned to open the Meidou in the first place?"

"I remember milord purposely broke Tokijin, knowing he'd put himself in grave danger!" cried Jaken. "That's not merely moving on! That's HUGE!"

The Inu-tachi nodded and murmured agreement.

"Yeah...when Moryoumaru insulted Kagura, all of a sudden he just lost it. I mean it's not like people haven't insulted him and his people in the past, but that's the first time I've EVER seen him lose it like that-and it wasn't even like anyone was in danger because of that or something really serious was happening, it was just an insult."said Kagome.

"You're telling me! Tokijin was his only offensive weapon at the time...and yet, he willingly broke it! His nose is sharp-he can sniff out the wind scar without trying, so I KNOW he knew the sword was gonna break." said Inuyasha. "Plus we were all standing there, yelling at him to pull the sword out because it was gonna break!"

"And without Tokijin, he had no real way to fight Moryoumaru. He _knew_ that, and yet he still purposely broke his only offensive sword. At the time, he could've lost his _life _without it, and probably would have, had Inuyasha not intervened. All because of a couple of words said to insult Kagura." said Miroku. "Even Moryoumaru had to point out that he acted like he really _really_ cared about Kagura."

"Oh, so THAT'S what it was!" exclaimed Totosai. "Tenseiga called out to me and kept saying that Sesshomaru had learned enough compassion now and was ready to wield it as a fighting sword. I didn't agree, but it kept insisting!"

"And when you told him about it, Sesshomaru instantly knew that Tenseiga was talking about Kagura." added Soojin. "It didn't do that because of Rin or anyone else. It was his feelings for Kagura, as confirmed by Tenseiga itself, that took his heart to that next level.

He willingly put his life in danger for her honor, it was such a huge change that even Tenseiga had to confirm that it was his feelings for Kagura that opened up his heart enough so that he was ready for the next level, AND he swore it on himself to avenge her death. He made it his personal mission. In what way, shape or form is that 'mild'? In what way, shape or form is that 'simply moving on'? It isn't. You have confirmation from Jaken, Rin, Moryoumaru, the _entire_ Inu-tachi, Tenseiga, and Totosai that something is happening here. Not to mention Rin's _support._

While they have not known each other well enough to be in love, it's very obvious that he had extremely strong feelings for her-despite not knowing her that well. And the fact that Rin specifically said IN love, and made sure to specify that it was a romantic thing-sorry, but it's too obvious that they are crushing on each other."

"I also remember the time after she gave us the Fuyoheki shards. We used it to track down Moryoumaru, and when we got there, he asked us how we found him. I was ready to tell him about Kagura, but to my shock, milord stopped me!" said Jaken. "He then went on to lie to Moryoumaru and say that he had just tracked his scent, when he knew very well that it was because of the crystal Kagura had given us. He was actively protecting her! This is coming from someone who had no problem exposing the entire Inu-tachi to poisonous miasma and killing them during a fight with Naraku-someone who, even at the end, did not care about an entire village getting murdered during the final battle with Naraku. He actively lied, protecting her from getting in trouble-when there was no promise that it would jeopardize her life. He didn't even want her getting in _trouble._"

"And not to mention he lets her get away with any and everything, and never retaliates-not even _verbally. _He'll let her know firmly if he's rejecting her offer, but is never rude to her-even while she's standing there calling him all sorts of names." added Kohaku. "He even let her get away kidnapping Rin! He came after _me _when he saw me threatening Rin, and Naraku-but with Kagura-he never even _mentions_ it. It's like he's _completely_ oblivious to the fact that Kagura was the one who took Rin. He acts like it never even happened."

"Even though I clearly said it was Kagura who took Rin, and I continuously reminded him afterwards!" exclaimed Jaken. "He ignored me, and the next time they met, _he_ was the one who went to _her_! I was standing there, shouting about how she kidnapped Rin, and _Rin herself is running away in fear of Kagura_-and what does he do? He hops right next to her really close, and asks her what she knows. When she told him it might be too dangerous, he pressed further!"

"When all that is coming from Sesshomaru, I don't see how people can say that it was one-sided on Kagura's side and Sesshomaru only liked her as a friend or ally and only had "symphathy and respect" for her.

No, that's what he is with Kagome (who he has worked with and saved), Sango (who he did not kill, after she tried to kill Rin to save Miroku and then she told him to go ahead and kill her when she got caught), his brother (who he reluctantly does form an alliance with), Jaken (retainer who, though they clash, he has worked with for fifty years with and has saved his life once), and Kaede (who he trusted enough to leave Rin with)." said Soojin.

"The level of compassion and devotion he displays for Kagura goes way beyond what he's shown for the people who are his "allies" and has "grudging respect" for. Way, way beyond.

Seriously, if it's one sided in any way, Sesshomaru is the one who loves her and Kagura is the one who likes him as a friend. Sesshomaru has done all of the above for her. Kagura? She gives him info, and wanted to see him before she died.

Sorry, but actively protecting someone from getting in trouble when you wouldn't usually give a damn about anyone else's life, letting them get away with things you would never tolerate from anyone else, completely ignoring any and all crimes/misdeeds (including kidnapping your adoptive daughter), saving them and staying there with them until you were sure they were okay, throwing away a chance to kill your number one enemy to see them before they died, making sure they knew you came for them when usually you would try to make it look like you were just passing through, trying to save them by your own free will without someone having to push you to do so when you've never done that for anyone before, purposely putting your life at risk just because someone said a few bad words about them (and then almost dying afterwards) and breaking your only weapon, later having Tenseiga-which can read your heart-confirm that you've been moved in a way that you've never been before in all the years the sword's been with you and that only now were you ready to weild it as a weapon, and then making it your personal mission to avenge the person's death-" Soojin took a deep breath. "That is a MUCH bigger deal than following someone and wanting to see them before you died.

"Sesshomaru shows more signs of loving Kagura than she does of loving him. The person she's shown the most actual compassion for is Kohaku, who she died to save (but still is not a love interest since she sees him more like a little brother). If you're gonna say it's one-sided, then it's more logical to say that Sesshomaru was the one who loved Kagura and Kagura only like him as a friend. Seriously, if you're gonna say he saw her as a friend, then where is the evidence that Kagura didn't just see him as a friend as well?"

"The kind of compassion he has for her is much stronger and deeper-it occurs between families, lifelong friends, and lovers. We can rule out friends and families because that kind of relationship takes a long time to form, like he and Rin. A crush, however, does not take so long to develop, and very well can stir intense feelings inside someone."

"Tenseiga said his heart had been changed in a way that it HASN'T BEEN BEFORE. We've seen him show compassion and respect for others plenty of times in the series-his father, Rin, his brother, Kagome, etc. It can't be platonic love because we've also seen him show platonic feelings for people plenty of times. The only type of emotion he HASN'T felt before in the series in romantic love, and that's probably what tenseiga meant when it said something was present in his heart that hasn't been before."

"Some people say it can't possibly be canon because Kagura died." said Rin.

"In that case, Inupapa/Izayoi, Inupapa/Sessmom and Inuyasha/Kikyo aren't canon." Soojin laughed. "That means that Romeo and Juliet never loved each other. That would mean Jack and Rose from Titanic aren't canon. It would mean that Soun from Ranma 1/2 (A Takahashi series) never loved his dead wife, even though he actively prays at her shrine and cannot notice other women because of her memory. That means Kyoko from Maison Ikkoku (A Rumiko Takahashi manga) never loved her dead husband Soichiro, although she spends the majority of the series unable to get over him. The list goes on and on and on.

Seriously, so if one party dies before the other, that means the love was never there? Of course not. It's true that despite having romantic feelings for each other, Sesshomaru and Kagura never got a chance to further their relationship. Does that mean the feelings were never there? No! It is canon that the two of them have reciprocated romantic feelings for each other, and the manga makes it very clear. They don't have to have a happily-ever-after Hollywood ending to be love interests. All that has to be there is that there is reciprocated romantic interest-which is very much present with Sesshomaru and Kagura."

"What about people saying that they can't possibly be canon because Sessh/Rin has validation for the future?"

"What future?" blinked Soojin. "Are they forgetting that the manga is over? There is nothing after chapter 558. Those 558 chapters are the story, they are the series, they are the canon. This is a fictional story-Takahashi made it so that Sesshomaru and Rin have no romantic feelings for each other during the series. Whereas Sesshomaru and Kagura do. So it's obvious what the canonical romantic pairing is."

"That's like saying Inuyasha/Sango is more canon than Inuyasha/Kikyo because Sango is alive and Kikyo is dead."

"OKAY WILL YOU ALL STOP TALKING ABOUT ME AND GET BACK ON TOPIC!" shouted a very red and embarrassed Kagura. Everyone shrugged.

"Even after all this though, people still speculate..."


	6. Translations

"Apparently, Viz has to approve of everything onemanga does. It says that Viz censored out anything that said Sesshomaru and Rin were a couple cause it's not accepted here."

"Where's the proof of that?"

Soojin shrugged. "Nowhere. Even if was, onemanga isn't the only site that translated it like that. Go to Mangafox, Ear-Tweak, any other website-and they all have smiliar translations. The people who did the translating are different so it's not gonna be word-for-word identical, but it means the same thing.

Those are independent translations done by Japanese-speaking fans, COMPLETELY independent of any company and non-for-profit. Furthermore, the Korean versions of Inuyasha say almost the same thing the English versions do. So what are they gonna say? That the Korean versions are censored as well? Koreans are not 'western audiences'. And I hear that the Mandarin versions are no different, either.

Also, why would they need to censor that out for western audiences when there have been plenty of western works such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Twilight and hell, even Shakespeare where things like that happened and there was no outcry over it? Why would Inuyasha be any different?"

"But you don't speak Japanese, so you really can't be sure." said Miroku.

"True, but I know people that do, so if anybody can provide me with proof, I can easily give it to several people that can translate it for me." said Soojin. "It's extremely easy. Just go to the nearest Japanese restauraunt, community, or whatever and you can find plenty of Japanese immigrants you can ask. You can find a Japanese professor in any decent university. It isn't very difficult at all to find someone that's Japanese."

"Although, I find it odd that many, many people are saying that those translations are false. Some of them are Sessh/Rin shippers as well, but they are saying that twisting something around and putting it out there as fact is not acceptable-which it isn't. Keep in mind that these are not the only people who speak Japanese. If everything they say is so accurate, then why are there so many people-not just here, on other sites as well-saying that it's false? They are the only people translating it that way. None of the others agree."

"How about that the age of consent in Japan is thirteen and not eighteen?" said Rin.

"Let's ask a Japanese person." said Soojin. "From (remove the spaces) http : / / legal . 3yen . com / 2005-07-27 /i s-the-age-of-consent-in-japan-really-13 /, a Japanese blogger says: "Here's the way the so-called "age 13 is age of consent" works: The age of consent in Japan is 13 years old under the Japanese national criminal law code. However, all municipalities and prefectures have their own particular laws such as Tokyo's "Youth Protection Law" which prohibit adults from having sex with youths who are under 17 years old."

"As an added note, even though the age of consent in Japan can be 13, the age of majority is 20 for voting. The age of adulthood is considered 20 and driving age is 18.""

Soojin clicked on another link. "And from http : / / www . ageofconsent . com/ japan . htm. / : "Although the age of sexual consent in Japan is 13 years of age, prefecture law usually overrides federal law, raising the age up to 18.""

"That's actually not that different from over here. In movies, they usually make it out to seem that the the age of consent is eighteen in the USA, but if you look it up, most states actually have the age of consent as sixteen, and some have it as low as fourteen or thirteen. So just because the law for the age of consent is slightly lower doesn't mean that they're immediately gonna see no problem with an adult having a relationship with a seven year old girl.

Also, Korean age of consent is also 13, but that doesn't mean it's normal to have sex with 13-14 year olds, most people don't have sex until they're married, and that's not until you're in your twenties. Just because something is legal doesn't mean it's normal or accepted. Guess what? Koreans had child brides too, and gasp, we have adult/child in our fiction as well. That doesn't mean that it's normal or accepted in MODERN, REAL-LIFE Asia."

Rin cocked her head. "It says here that in some interviews, our creator herself said so that Sessh/Rin is canon."

"So many people have claimed so." sighed Soojin. "However, absolutely none of them have been able to provide proof! None of them have ever pulled up the actual articles where Rumiko says such. And again, I know I don't speak Japanese, but read above. I know people that do who can translate for me, also other people who speak Japanese-some of them Sessh/Rin shippers-are saying that Rumiko NEVER said such things."

"But the author says she spends some time every year in Japan and her girlfriend has been studying it for 19 years." said Kagome.

"I know from personal experience that doesn't mean shit. After we moved to America, my grandparents came over here every summer for three months to visit. I don't live with my parents anymore, but they still do. And guess what they know about America? Nothing, in my opinion. They still think that in the USA, girls are supposed to stay with their parents until marriage like in Asia. They think in the USA, kids bring dinner to school and stay there studying until the wee hours in the morning like Koreans do.

Hell, my PARENTS don't even know everything about the US. They lived here for 15 years, and they still don't understand that Americans are taught to speak their minds and value their individuality and are not taught to keep their thoughts to themselves like Asians are. You know why? Because they did not come here until they were adults-they didn't grow up here as children. They didn't go to school here, and they hang around mostly their own Korean friends.

They've actually been studying English for longer I have. Guess what? Their English SUCKS. That's because after you reach a certain age, your brain can't learn new languages like it used to when you were a child and it's extremely hard to try to learn another language properly after a certain age. Adults are used to speaking one language and living one way, and they don't learn new languages and cultures as easily as children do.

And trust me, my parents are not stupid at all-my father graduated from Seoul, the Korean equivalent of Harvard. He was learning Algebra at ten. He's a doctor/chemist/pharmacist of some kind; and yet, when people speak to him in English, even after so called 'speaking' it for over twenty years, they feel like they're talking to an illiterate child. All that means nothing. If you went to a Japanese person and said that, they'd look down on you.

This chick? She visits for some time every year, but she doesn't even work or go to school there, she just tags along while her husband works. And she definitely doesn't live with a Japanese family. And they both admitted that they didn't start learning the language until they were well into adulthood.

Funny thing is, her girlfriend told me that she'd studied Korean in college, but is under the impression that Koreans use symbolic characters like the Chinese. Anyone who knows anything knows that Koreans have two sets of phonetical alphabet. So she was definitely lying then. I wonder what else she's also lying about?

It's also rather funny how they claim to know so much about Japan, but still aren't aware that feeding someone is a woman's duty over there, and that talking to a therapist about your personal business is considered shameful in all East Asian countries, including, gasp, JAPAN (she told me to see a therapist about my problems, and it wasn't an insult, she was dead serious). They also seem to be unaware that beating children is normal in Asia, including Japan, and that back then it was even worse since they didn't have laws for standards then (she claimed the child brides weren't abused)."

"The tiny corner of whatever room/place they stay in is DEFINITELY not all of Japan. They obviously saw one thing, one small part of whatever city/town they're in and assumed that the entire country is like that. That's like someone coming over here, staying summer vacations in New York, and assuming that all of America is like that. Definitely not true." said Soojin. "That's like somebody going to a bad part of a US city and assuming that all of America is filled with crime. Not true."

"I've had people come up to me and assume that I ate dogs and cats just because there's some-I repeat, SOME-people in Korea that do that, not comprehending that it's a very, very, VERY controversial thing in Korea and while it does happen, is DEFINITELY not something that is practiced among everyone-plenty of people DESPISE it. They always see one thing, and assume that the whole place is like that, not knowing that the country is actually DIVIDED among people who agree with it and those that don't. Along with many other things that these so-called "oh-so-knowledgeable" westerners ASSUME about us just because they visited for a short time/study about us from books written by other westerners. Ridiculous. Imagine a foregin person who did NOT grow up here coming up to you, lecturing you about American culture because they've been studying English or have lived in Texas two years. (BTW, two years is a laughably short time.)"

"And this, my friends, is why there's so much hatred for the USA in Asia. One of the reasons being the attitude that people tend to have, saying "oh my friend studied your country/culture" or "we lived there two years" or "I've been reading about it all my life okay" and thinking that they know better than ACTUAL NATIVES. Yes, I have westerners coming up to me, trying to "educate" me about the culture that I've LIVED all my life just because they had a tiny little sample of it."

"I am letting you know right now-it does NOT matter how long you've VISITED/STUDIED. If you did not GROW UP THERE, YOU ARE NO BETTER THAN THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN THERE. In fact, you may be WORSE, because people that know a tiny, TINY little bit ALWAYS assume that what they know is everything, jump to completely false conclusions and then start lecturing ACTUAL ASIAN PEOPLE about their own culture. STOP. You are not, and will not, EVER be knowledgeable enough to tell anyone about themselves- MUCH LESS try to each other wsterners about something you don't even understand."

Everyone 'oh'ed, as none of them were immigrants and did not know that what she just described is the norm among immigrant families.

"The parents cannot speak English as well as their children; the children are always more Americanized than the parents. The parents, who were not raised here, are not really a good source of information on American culture either. I don't think learning any other language or culture is any different."


End file.
